PARTY SLASHERS

It’s Halloween, and a group of high school students are throwing a massive party out at a house in the middle of nowhere. What could go wrong, right? In this case, quite a bit as a murderous psychopath has dropped by, and is slaughtering all the party-goers. A few escape upstairs, however, where they plan their next move.

First off, Carl Bachmann’s Party Slashers is a good looking piece of short filmmaking. The composition is solid for a film tasked with fitting a lot of people into a small room, and the work done in the audio mix brings everything together in a fun and energetic way. Some of the acting is a bit forced, but for the most part it all works to set a mood of an odd assembly of high school students trying not to get murdered.

Their efforts, however, lead to one brutally anticlimactic kick to the groin. The film does such a great job of setting the scene, building interest through to its ending, that when it does wrap up you’re left thinking, “Wait, no. It can’t end like this!” I understand it’s probably better to leave your audience wanting more than exhausted into boredom from being given too much, but the way in which it ends is such a letdown considering how well it handles itself up until that point. You feel like you got dropped into a single scene in a larger script, and you’re being cheated out of what comes next.

I can only hope that this is a piece of a larger story still to come (and if the synopsis I read after the fact is any indication, then that hope is not unfounded). Either a feature film or a webseries or something. Right? It can’t just end that way, we need to find out more about this ragtag group of potential survivors. It can’t just be a one-note sketch!

Actually, yes it can, but I’m hoping this is the start of something bigger and better. The filmmaking chops are there, I was engaged and, clearly, emotionally invested. If this is a one-off story, I hope that the filmmaker’s next project considers a more closure-friendly ending for the audience, because that’s the only thing keeping this film from making that transition from very good to exceptional. As a setup to something bigger, though… you’ve got my attention, now follow through. Please.

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